Improvement in horse-rakes



L. w. FREDERICK.

Horse Rake.

No. 41,613. Patented Feb. 16, 1864.

p at both ends extending from the axle at equal that when one end of them are in contact with UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVI 'w. FR'EDRIOK,

or RAY, INDIANA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 41,6l3, dated February 16, 1864.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEVI W. FREDRICK, of Bay township, in the county of Morgan and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Horse-Rake; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side sectional view of my invention, taken in the line 00 m, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

This invention consists in a novel construction and arrangement of the thills, whereby the revolving movement of the rake in discharging its load is greatly facilitated, the implement preserved from much wear and tear, and the labor of the horse materially diminished.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

Arepresents an axle, having a wheel, B, placed loosely on each end of it. This axle forms the head of the rake, and it may be of wood or iron and of cylindrical or other form.

C are the rake-teeth, which pass through the axle A at right angles at suitable and equal distances apart, and are slightly curved at opposite sides of the axle in reverse or opposite directions, as shownin Fig. 1,the teeth distances. The teeth 0 are of such a length the earth the portion between the points in contact with the earth and the axle will have a gradually-inclined position, while the parts at the opposite side of the axle will have a gradual curve backward, so that any of them may be used as handles. This will be fully understood by referring to Fig. l. The teeth may be of either wood or metal.

D I) represent the back portion of the thills, which at their rear ends are curved and extend downward to the axle A, and are connected to the axle by metal straps E, said straps and the inner end of D fitting in recesses in the axle A. The axle A is allowed to turn freely in the inner ends of the parts D D of the thills, and said parts at their front ends are connected by across-bar, E, as shown clearly in Fig. 2.

F F represent two curved bars, which possess some elasticity. These bars are each curved in the form of a semi-ellipse, and are placed between the front ends of the parts I) D of the thills with their concave sides facing each other. (See Fig. 2.) The inner ends of the bars F F are in contactwith each other,

and are secured to the cross-bar E by aclamp or clip, G, which covers the inner ends of F F, and is secured to the cross-bar E by a bolt, a. The outer sides of the bars F, at about their centers, are attached at the front ends of the parts D D of the thills by means of hooks b b, which are secured to the front ends of D and pass through staples b on the outersides of F, as shown in Fig. 2.

To the front ends of the bars F F there are permanently attached elastic plates H H, each of which has a staple, e, at its inner side. These plates H are secured to the hames of the horse-collar, and form the only means of connecting the animal to the implement.

The operation is as follows: As the implement is drawn along the driver or attendant grasps one or more of the upper parts of the teeth 0, to serve as handles, the lowerpartsot' the teeth raking up the load, and when the lower parts of the teeth are full the upper teeth are slightly elevated, so that the lower ends of the teeth will catch into the. earth and the rake be made to make a half-revolution under the draft-movement. By this means the load is discharged,the ends of the teeth which were formerly uppermost being in contact with the earth. During this revolving movement of the rake the wheels B are necessarily elevated; but as they pass over the windrow they descend gradually so as to cause but little or no concussion orjar. The driver or attendant can at any time elevate the lower ends of the teeth so that they may pass over obstructions by simply depressing the upper ends of the teeth. I

The arrangement of the thills, as shown and described, greatly facilitates the revolving of the rake, as said thills are allowed to rise and t0 the rake proper; but,

fall freely, and at the same time are retained The thills constructed of the parts D D F in proper position, so as not to be unduly I F, arranged as shown, when used in combishaken to harrass the horse. nation with and applied to the revolving rake,

I do not claim any of the parts pertaining substantially as herein described.

LEVI W. FREDRIOK.

Witnesses:

LEVI WHITTAKER,

TOBIAS BUTLOR.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl 

